A digital-to-analog converter (DAC) converts digital code into an analog signal and has a multitude of applications (e.g., in audio, video, signal processing, etc.). To perform this conversion, DACs may implement various components, such as switches, resistors, current sources, or capacitors. In particular, a capacitive DAC uses a bank of capacitors (comprising a plurality of capacitors having various capacitance values) and typically requires lower power as compared to other types of DACs. A capacitive DAC is a particularly useful component in mixed signal circuits.
However, for a capacitive DAC to achieve sufficient accuracy, large capacitors must typically be used in the capacitor bank. As known in the art, this is due to the use of capacitance value ratios in the conversion process that require good capacitor matching and ratio accuracy which is improved by larger capacitance values. However, the use of large capacitors results in increased chip area, lower processing speed, and reduced power benefit of the capacitive DAC. Also, use of large capacitors makes it difficult to achieve high ratio accuracy in the capacitor bank due to parasitic capacitances resulting from electric fields of capacitors dispersing to neighboring components.
As such, there is a need for a capacitor bank having small size, low-capacitance values with high precision and accuracy, good capacitor matching, and good shielding with low parasitic capacitances for use in a capacitive DAC.